I Summon Thee
by Xeal II
Summary: A unique take on Cloud and Aerith reuniting in the Lifestream. Cloud isn't an ancient, he cannot remain in the Lifestream forever... A relatively short fic.


_I Summon Thee_

_Time... the enemy of all things, the sole constant in the universe; only time lacks a beginning and an end. It marches ever-forward, never looking back, until the very fabric of the cosmos unravels and plunges into eternal darkness. Time... we have so little to spend, so little to live... so little to love._

_Cloud was coming to her, after the ages spent in the mortal world, his spirit was returning to the Lifestream, returning to her. In some small way, it was a great joy to her, for now they would share a true moment together at last. Yet that was all it could be, one moment, a single pinprick in the fabric of eternity. The ache in her heart threatened to ruin even this single moment in time, and if her body still breathed, it would have shed an unstoppable torrent of tears. _

_Already she could feel Cloud's soul beginning to unravel, pieces of his consciousness starting to merge with the ever-present life energy of the planet. It was the way of all things to die and merge with the living planet, and even the greatest of men must succumb. It had been eons since her last real companion had vanished into the Lifestream, never to return. Zack had faded away blissfully, finally complete as he had watched Cloud from the doorway so long ago. His friend's guilt and ever-present shame assuaged and his own sense of self-worth returning as he knew Cloud would never forget him... he had no more reason to linger. And so, like the others he had faded away, the tiny motes of his soul spreading across the world. Once, she had loved him, once she had wished for him to return to her. But such things were not to be, and it wasn't until Cloud fell through the roof that day long ago that she realized what it truly felt like to be in love. Love was not just the soft words and flirtatious smiles... it was a deep, lingering pain which threatened to overtake her every moment they were apart._

_Cloud... Once he reached her, once their spirits were intertwined and she could be with her soulmate, Cloud would have no more reason to linger than Zack did. His spirit would vanish, breaking apart into a thousand tiny fragments that would shimmer across the Lifestream... and then he would be gone forever. What was her promised land without him? What reason would she have to remain without him? Even though, as a Cetra, she could linger on forever if she truly wished it... she knew she couldn't continue on without him. The only answer was to vanish with him, to merge with the Lifestream together, so that even as the endless centuries passed on, a tiny piece of them would always remain together..._

_----------------------- _

"Almost got it..." A pale hand scraped through the dirt and grime covering the shimmering sphere.

"Hey, I'd leave that alone if I was you. You don't know what that thing does." The hand inched closer, barely touching the edges of the shimmering materia, casting the tiny hole in deep scarlet tones.

"Of course I do, it's materia. We know what it does. Gah, I can almost reach it... almost there..." The young hand nearly held the sphere, then slipped off again, fingernails clawing everywhere for a new grip.

"There are many kinds of materia, not all of them are good." The second voice echoed in the musty cavern.

"Hey just shuttup and give me a hand here, kay?" The first voice took on a tone of authority, and the bantering ceased. After a few more moments of struggle, the sphere was finally removed from its ancient resting place. He held the shimmering globe triumphantly as he glared at his companion. The man was hardly out of his teens, still thin and lanky, and a possessing of a remnant of innocent youth in his manner. His deep brown eyes scanned the magical sphere with rapt interest as he brushed the mud and grime off its once-pristine surface.

"Wow, what do you think it does?" His companion asked, curiousity worming its way across her worried face. The woman was icily beautiful. Long, cold silver hair flowed around her form, reaching nearly to her waist as it wafted gently in the drafty cave. Her bright green eyes were alive with interest and just a hint of fear as she touched the materia her companion held out in front of him.

"Do not use it unless you must. It's a summon materia... a very ancient one. You do not know what mighty power might be contained within." A strong, powerful voice boomed, echoing throughout the cave... A dark man in a torn and battered crimson cape motioned to the pair from deep within the cave, the darkness obscuring his features.

"Who asked you, creep? You're just jealous we found it first!" The young man exclaimed angrily, clutching the red sphere tightly in his hand. But the Dark Man had no response for them, and he simply vanished into the darkness from whence he came.

----------------------

_Aerith... Cloud could think of nothing else as he was whisked away through the lifestream, never wavering in his singular purpose, in his one final dream. He could feel her, he could sense her as if she were a part of him, as if their souls were always meant to become one. It had been strange laying on his death bed, a long and full life coming to a close, watching his friends look down on him with profound sadness and despair. For him it had been a serene, happy moment; the time had finally come for him to return home, to her. In all of his days he had never wavered in his devotion to her, though as time had moved inexorably forward, it had become much easier to live on. Freed of his immense guilt, that anchor which had weighed him down for so long, he had gone on to do a great many things, earning for himself a name that would live on long after he died, echoing into the annals of history and legend. But that didn't matter, such was not his purpose, it was merely how he had occupied his time waiting for nightfall.. waiting for the dreams that whisked him away to her._

_Aerith..._

_Cloud..._

_There wasn't any need for words in this place... they were beyond such things now. Their souls touched, latching together in a spiritual embrace that carried them together, swirling across the Lifestream, the melody of their feeling echoing through the lifeblood of the planet. Cloud felt a peace he had never known before, a completeness which had always eluded him in life. He felt her in his arms, he felt her in his heart. Together they were in the field of flowers, its endless beauty stretching across an infinite horizon, filling their hearts with bliss. Then he felt it, the wavering pain that seemed to emanate from her, the desperate despair that welled up within her, consuming her with heartache. _

_Soundlessly, she touched him, passing on all that she knew without words, transferring all that she felt in that single moment. Cloud knew... He knew that their time was short, that soon he would fade away into oblivion, becoming one with the Lifestream which coursed through the planet all around them. There was a mutual pain, amplified by their love, as they swirled about the radiant green energy in a dance of light, spending their final moments locked in eternal embrace, as if they were but a single entity._

_An idea flashed in Cloud's consciousness, and in this place of shared thought and endless, scattered souls, it passed through him and on to Aerith in a single moment. She smiled at Cloud's cleverness, her pain melting away in an instant as their spirits vanished, carried off into the darkness..._

_------------------------ _

The three warriors were in desperate straits. The massive creature reared upon its hind legs and let out a roar that carried with it a wind so strong it nearly knocked them off their feet. Fire shot from the creature's gaping maw as the warriors desperately tried to protect themselves from the blaze of hellfire. The leader, a tall, lanky man whose innocence had long vanished in the din of a thousand desperate battles, glanced about at his comrades. On his right he could see her; a woman with long silver hair lay bloody and groaning in terrible pain, burns covering much of her once-beautiful features. Behind the leader, another warrior grunted with exertion as he lifted his blackened shield, barely able to stand, his legs wobbling and his sword arm dangling uselessly from his side, covered in charred flesh.

So much for adventure, so much for saving the planet, the leader thought to himself as he winced from the pain of many burns. All we've earned is a painful death at the hands of a grotesque monster. He hefted his gun up anyway, prepared to give a good account of himself before he died... when a peculiar thought struck him. He reached in his pocket, pulling out the one materia he had never used before. The dark man's words from so long ago came back to him... "It's a summon materia... a very ancient one. You do not know what mighty power might be contained within." Well, it couldn't do any harm to use it now, they were dead anyway... He clicked the materia into a slot in his gun and felt the power within... He had never used summon materia before and a strange turn of phrase struck him as he released the power within.

"Whatever you are... I summon thee!" He laughed at his own voice as the creature bore down, ready to finish him.

The materia glowed brightly, blinding light shimmering everywhere, and the leader turned away, shielding his eyes. As the light faded and his gaze returned to the materia... it was dark. Wow. He thought, laughing to himself, some powerful materia huh? If there was any more ironic way to die, he didn't know of it. Tap. One of his companions tapped his shoulder lightly and he turned around...

Both of his companions were passed out from their wounds, but two newcomers stood in their place. A spiky-haired blonde man held a great sword before him, emanating strength and power as he stood next to a goddess, a woman of intense beauty with shimmering emerald eyes who stood fearlessly despite the growling beast nearby. The two smiled at him and nodded to each other with mutual understanding...

The blonde warrior leaped for the monster without the slightest hesitation, his sword lashing out in all directions, a blur of motion as it cut deeply into the hideous creature time after time. The creature's lifeblood was scattered about the cavern, staining the rock with hot, steaming gore as the sword whirled about. As the leader turned, he saw the woman building up a crescendo of glorious, holy energy, a torrent of wondrous healing rain falling all around them. He could feel his strength returning to him as the burns were lifted away by the rain. He also felt something else; an intense power built up within him, making him feel as if nothing could harm him, nothing could hurt him. It was as if he had been encased in unbreakable steel... and yet there was nothing he could see around him. As he looked back up, the newcomers were gone.. but the leader looked at the materia glowing brightly within his gun, shimmering with untold power... and he smiled. He turned to the creature, ailing and weak from the many wounds the blonde warrior had inflicted upon it, and he leaped for it with newfound strength, his companions joining him in the attack... Within the sphere, a pair of spirits rested, their shimmering light together, forever.


End file.
